THE QUR'AN
All the revelations sent to prophet Muhammad (S.A.W) are put together into one book which is called “Al-Qur'an”. The Qur'an is the last of Allah's revelation to mankind. It was revealed to the prophet Muhammad through the angel Jibril (Gabriel). Prophet Muhammad was born in mecca (makkah) in or around the year 570AD. He was an illiterate and therefore could not read the books of the earlier prophets. Muhammad started receiving relations from Allah (god) at the age of fourty (40), he preached for twenty three years (23) and died at the age of sixty three (63) in madina in 633AD.
The Qur'an was written down during Muhammad's life time and learnt by heart by many of the early Muslims. It was used for prayers and recited both before and after the prophet’s death. All the pieces, on which the Qur'an was written down, were collected together after the prophet’s death. With the guidance of those who has memorized they were then made into a single book. Nothing was left out, nothing was changed and nothing was added. As promised by Allah in Qur'an 15:9 “we have indeed sent down the message (which is Qur'an) and we will surely guard it (from corruption)”.
The early mecca revelations urged people to believe in one God and to leave idol worshiping, bad customs and to prepare for the Day of Judgment when they will be questioned about what they did on earth. The later madina revelations described further how Muslims should behave both individually and as a community. All these revelations concern marriage, family inheritance, business ethics, economics, law and the conduct of state affairs, relationship with non-Muslims and every aspect of human life.
Under the guidance of the Qur'an, Muslims exploit all branches of knowledge, science and arts. The first major universities were set up in the major cities of the Muslim world.